Overkill
by Susan Hilton
Summary: Ensign Sito is found alive and she gradually goes insane after being brutalized by her Cardassian captors. A sequel to the episode "Lower Decks". Warning: A darker story than usual. Violence and adult themes. Not for the faint of heart or for little children. PLEASE NOTE: If you don't want to wait a month for a new chapter, please let me have three reviews for the most current.
1. The Escape

Overkill

Chapter One

It had been five years since she had been abducted by the Cardassians, but to her it seemed like five centuries. She had been through hell. She had been daily abused both mentally and physically. She now felt like a lost _B__orhass_; unloved and unmourned. Because she had killed every last one of her Cardassian abusers, there would be no death chant for her when her time would soon come. She believed that the Prophets had deserted her and that she was alone in the vast universe, not quite herself anymore.

She remembered how it all began. She had been assigned by Captain Picard to ferry a deceptively peaceful young Cardassian dissident back to his space in a distressed Enterprise shuttlecraft. Once at his outpost, he had drugged her and sexually assaulted her. She screamed with pain and terror, choked and gagged as his long forked snake-like tongue slithered down her throat as he was doing it. The act resulted in her first pregnancy. She remembered watching later, paralyzed with another drug and with horror, as the half-Cardassian child she had carried for nine months was brutally killed, cooked and eaten as soon as it was born by her abusers. They lied to Starfleet about her being killed in the line of duty. Tears filled her eyes at the memory as she, dizzy, sneezing and sick with yet another unplanned and unwanted pregnancy, steered the stolen Klingon shuttlecraft back to Federation space. Every sneeze brought her more pain in her wounded and extended belly.

A Klingon named Tok had outwardly befriended one of them and had taken pity on her. He had procured an old-style hand phaser from a Ferengi and had secretly given it to her. Armed with this cell-phone-sized concealed weapon, she disintegrated them all. She had been surprised at how easy it had been to kill her abusers. With the first one, she felt a certain immense satisfaction which startled her. She then had picked them off one by one until she was left all alone on the small Cardassian outpost, where she had been beaten, tortured, starved and violated. It had been so easy, in fact, that she decided that it had all been a wonderful dream and that this was another method of Cardassian torture. She, however, patted the small hand-held weapon in her pocket, thankful that it at least was real. She felt a bit more secure when she held it. Tok had sold the Klingon shuttle to her captors, knowing that she would eventually need a vehicle to escape, once she disposed of the Cardassians. She barely remembered boarding the shuttle that she now steered, and she could not fully believe that she was really finally free. If she had taken a Cardassian shuttle, she felt she would not have survived. It had been relatively easy to mask her Bajoran life signs. The child within her helped with that regard. For days she had been alone on the shuttle, eating Klingon food to sustain herself. She hated it, but was grateful for the alien's help. She had asked for his help in Klingon; her Cardassian abductors not knowing the language. He had spoken to her first, asking her if she was all right. She answered in Klingon that she had been abducted and needed his help. He seemed impressed that she knew Klingon and told her in that language that he would rendezvous with her near Terok Nor. She did not know that the war was over and that it had been renamed Deep Space Nine, having not been informed by her captors. She whispered a quiet thank you to Tok, even though he might have been a delusion as well. She continued on at full warp speed for what seemed like days until she reached the station.

As she arrived, she became convinced that Tok had not been real. There was no other Klingon ship in sight. However, the large variety of life signs on the station and the view out her window of a number of alien ships and Federation starships left her puzzled. As the people on the station hailed her, she tried to answer, but was suddenly hit with a wave of dizziness and fatigue. Not having slept or eaten much in the way of nourishing food for days and running purely on adrenaline and fear, she passed out.

When she awoke, she saw a human doctor in a Starfleet uniform bending over her in concern. He told her that he was unable to save her unborn child and that she would have died if she had carried it to term. He asked her what her name was. It took her a few minutes to remember it, and she was also still worried that this was all an illusion. When she was in captivity, she was not allowed to use her real name, forced to use an ugly Cardassian one that was more of a curse than a name. Her voice was barely above a whisper, and when she did try to speak, she started to cry from the pain in her throat.

"I'm Ensign... Sito Jaksa…If you are Cardassians in disguise...please be merciful and kill me… If you aren't...please grant me asylum."

Bashir waved a scanner over her head, discovering the reason for her discomfort. Her throat and her vocal chords had been damaged. He quickly ordered a nurse to give her something for it while she remained conscious, which wasn't going to be a long time. He instructed her to swallow when he administered the medicine. She closed her eyes, finding relief from her pain. She lapsed into another coma soon after.

Their new patient was very ill indeed. There was evidence of massive trauma; mostly in her pelvic region, and she had been bleeding internally. He did not recognize her name, but he called Captain Sisko upon hearing her rank. Sisko knew who she was, and was astonished to find out that she had survived. Bashir's new patient was in critical condition, but he assured the captain and a very horrified Major Kira that she would be all right in time. He had given her a shot to ease her pain and so he could perform emergency surgery to repair her damaged organs. The captain had no trouble whatsoever granting the young woman asylum, and had contacted the captain of the Enterprise about finding their presumed dead young officer alive. They had docked the Klingon shuttle to the base. It had lost most of its fuel, for the girl had taxed the engines in her effort to escape into Federation space. The good doctor looked down with compassion at his badly injured new charge. Having seen a file photo of her, he realized that despite what had happened to her, she had not lost her youthful appearance. Sure, she looked worn, haggard, pale, and a bit malnourished, but he could still recognize her from her picture. The doctor was also concerned about her mental state, but that was a secondary concern for now. Treating her injuries that he could see was his top priority.


	2. Bad Dreams

Overkill

Chapter Two

Sito was asleep and was being operated on in the infirmary, but she was not aware of that. She had lacuna amnesia; her mind blocking out her final moments of her captivity. However, her memories were imbedded in her subconscious.

The last Cardassian she phasered out of existence had been on top of her, about to sexually assault her again for some minor offense. Too late he realized that it was she who had killed all of his fellow soldiers. She had taken her little phaser out of her pocket, put it to his side as he was about to enter her, and pressed the trigger. All of him disintegrated, except his horrible, vile tongue, which was still in her mouth. She lay on the floor for a moment, too weak and stunned to move. Then, she started to gag violently. The long, black lizard-like tongue was still down her throat. She pulled it out with a shaking hand and vomited; seeing it writhe like a worm in the mess on the floor. She fainted when she saw her own blood mixed with his. When she came to, she realized that nobody was left to beat her for messing up the floor. The thought of cleaning it up occurred to her, but she was too nauseated and weak to attempt it. She also thought "_To hell with it…and with them!"_ She crawled to the entrance to the base and phasered the door to her prison. Too weak and tired to go any further, she lost consciousness again at the threshold as the door creaked open.

When she awoke, she felt a cool breeze and the smell of fresh air. Feeling a little stronger, she stood and stumbled out of the door. She found that she was in a wooded area, behind the complex where she had been held for the past five years. Despite it being sunny outside, it was chilly, and she still wore the tattered remains of the clothes she had on when she was abducted. She saw a clear-running stream, fell to her knees, and crawled to it, scooping up the fresh sweet water in her trembling hands to eliminate the foul taste of Cardassian blood that remained in her mouth. After a few minutes, she felt a little better. Shivering a little, partly from shock and partly from the cold air, she stood and leaned against a tree. They had shaved her long,beautiful blonde hair, making her nearly bald in the process. It was starting to grow back, but it was still very short. The short hair contributed to her suffering, which was just what the Cardassians had in mind when they had shaved it off. She started to survey her surroundings, at first wondering how she was going to get off this accursed planet. It was then that she noticed a parking lot on the side of the building, and Tok's Klingon ship. She stumbled towards it, went inside, and secured the door. Leaning against the bulkhead for a few minutes, hyperventilating from the effort it took to reach the ship,she decided to replicate a new set of clothes for herself. Hoping that the ship's replicator still worked and that it made clothes, she powered up the shuttle's engines. Then, feeling secure for the first time in five years, she turned on the device. It indicated that there was a not too bad-looking Klingon dress in the data base. She watched as it replicated. Amazed that it fit her perfectly, her eyes filled with tears of gratitude to whomever it was that put the dress in the data base as she put it on. When she reached escape velocity, she set the ship to autopilot, set course for Terok Nor, and collapsed from sheer exhaustion.

There had been a theft of medical supplies by the Maqui during the last few days, which proved to be very detrimental for the young traumatized Bajoran girl they had recently rescued from a derelict Klingon shuttle. Dr. Bashir had no alternative but to operate the old fashioned way for now, with an oxygen mask and intubations instead of more advanced medical devices. He also had to rely on expired sedatives that Quark had sold to him at "wholesale" to make up for the theft. At the time, Julian naively thought that it was worth it and that it was better than nothing. He now knew that trusting the little money grubber to supply him with quality merchandise was not a smart idea.

Sito was now in the throws of a violent, horrible nightmare, in which she was being raped by two guls at once. She screamed in the dream, choked and gagged, unable to beg them to stop as the one on top of her slid his long, tough leathery tongue down her ravaged throat….

Bashir's patient was beginning to come out of the second-rate anesthesia too quickly. He was not yet finished repairing her more serious internal injuries. At first, she whimpered and then she started screaming and thrashing about in absolute terror and agony as the tube in her throat felt to her like a Cardassian tongue.

"Nurse! Quickly! Double dose of sedatives! STAT!" Bashir shouted with concern. He tried to calm his new patient by grasping her shoulders, and wished to God that he knew how to give her a neck pinch. She shrank from his touch, screaming loudly in horror, her heart rate dangerously high. "_SEDATE HER, DAMMIT!" _

The nurse complied, at first startled by the patient's reaction to the obviously bad dream she was having. His patient lost consciousness at last; tears streaming down her thin, drawn face. She whimpered for a while, but the bad dream had ceased. In her dreams she was beside that little brook again. A man she did not recognize, dressed in a glowing white robe with nail scars in his hands and feet, with a golden crown upon his head, was speaking to her gently, telling her that she would be safe and that no further harm would come to her. He called himself Yeshua.

Major Kira and Odo both heard the poor girl scream in agony and fear, and they ran to the infirmary to see what the matter was. When they arrived, Bashir had already brought things back under control. The medicine he had put down her throat had to be re-applied when she regained consciousness, but she was at peace for now. The doctor explained what had happened, and Kira, now seething with rage at what the Cardassians had done to the unfortunate young woman, turned to the constable.

"Odo, I want a twenty-four hour guard at this young girl's bedside! I am going to launch a formal protest against the stupid Cardassian government for letting this atrocity occur!"

"I sympathize, Major, but that would not be a good idea. If she is an escaped prisoner from some unknown death camp, they might try and recapture her if they know she is alive. However, even though I find your request for a guard a bit excessive, I will grant that request. I have just the person for the job." Odo tapped his com badge. "Odo to Worf. Please report to the infirmary at once. I want you to guard one of Bashir's patients."

"This is Worf. I am on my way."

Worf had no idea that Ensign Sito was the new patient that Odo was referring to. As he strode into the infirmary, he gasped in astonishment. Despite her drawn face and her short hair, he recognized her immediately.

"_Sito!_ I thought she had taken her place in Stovokor among the honored dead!"

"Do you know her, Mr. Worf?" Kira asked, equally astonished by his reaction.

"Yes, indeed I do. Will she recover, Doctor?"

"In time, sir. She is still in critical condition. I still have to finish repairing her more serious internal injuries. Please stay with her as I do, and don't let any Cardassians into the infirmary, even if they are dying!"

"Of course, Doctor. It would be an honor. I will guard her with my life."

As Sito was struggling with her nightmare, her little hand phaser had dropped out of her pocket and clattered to the floor. Curiously, Worf picked it up.

"What's that, Worf?" Odo asked.

"It is an ancient hand phaser, in incredibly good condition, and it has been recently fired."


	3. A Small Miracle

Overkill

Chapter Three

To Dr. Bashir's relief, a new shipment of medical supplies had arrived, compliments of Dr. Crusher of the Enterprise. He gently took the blood-coated tube out of the poor girl's throat and placed a sleep inducing cortical device on her forehead, to make sure she stayed unconscious for now. He knew that she needed to rest and that he would have to wait to re-apply the analgesic into her severely damaged throat and vocal chords. He had managed to repair the more serious internal injuries, but decided to stop for now. She needed to get stronger and recover enough so he could finish mending her mangled internal reproductive organs. He had stopped the internal bleeding, which had been caused by the many beatings she had suffered at the hands of her vicious abductors.

The chief medical officer of the Enterprise had been gracious enough to bring the supplies personally via a shuttlecraft to Deep Space Nine, and was very glad that Miss Sito was going to recover, even though she still had a long way to go. Crusher had also brought along a Vulcan psychologist named Solith, who specialized in cases involving trauma due to violence. As the girl lay in a drug-induced coma, Solith decided to do a gentle meld. She had discovered how the girl had managed to escape her bloodthirsty cannibalistic barbarous captors. However, she was not surprised that Sito had to kill them to escape. What she was surprised about was the fact that she saw in the girl's mind that her abusers had long, snake-like forked tongues. Bashir watched as both her eyebrows went up into her evenly trimmed bangs.

"What is it, Doctor?"

"This unfortunate individual has been brutally attacked by a group of Cardassians I have never seen before." The Vulcan psychologist seemed visibly shaken for about two seconds, but quickly composed herself.

"Explain, please."

"The reason her throat has been damaged so severely is that they inserted long, leathery, snake-like fork tongues down her throat as they were violating her sexually."

Bashir, shuttering, opened a box containing vials of a liquid multivitamin called stokaline.* His new patient was going to need it for nutritional support as she recovered from her ordeal. He asked a nurse to administer a shot of stokaline every hour on the hour while he stepped out for a bite to eat and to collect his thoughts.

"Mr. Worf, be sure to shoot any Cardassian who tries to enter the infirmary when I'm gone."

"I will assume you mean stun them, Doctor." Worf said.

"Frankly at this time, Worf, I don't give a rat's ass."

"Understood" Worf said, smiling with slight amusement.

Ever since they had found the poor young woman in the derelict craft, Bashir had been avoiding Garak, horrified at what members of his race had done. Now, he needed to get some answers as to what kind of monsters these Cardassians had been and why anyone would want to harm an innocent Bajoran girl.

The bad dreams had ceased. Sito found herself in a lush, warm tropical garden, filled with exotic flowers and soft greenery. The god named Yeshua was there and bade her welcome. He offered her a hand as they strolled through the garden. At first, she was afraid to take it, but then she felt a strong sense of love and compassion from the stranger. She reconsidered.

"_I will not hurt you, child." _He said gently. _"I thought I would bring you to a more pleasant place so we could talk. This is a representation of the planet Betazed. I just want to tell you that I care about you. In fact, I sent Mr. Tok to you. That is, of course, not his real name. I had him take the form of a Klingon so he would be able to help you."_

"And the phaser?" Sito was astonished, realizing a second later that there was no pain as she spoke. She then also realized that she had projected the question from her mind and had not actually spoken.

"_I gave it to you so you would be able to destroy those evil creatures that had hurt you."_

Tears filled her eyes as she again spoke with her mind, but it was not because of her injury.

"What took you so long? Not that I'm not grateful…." She added quickly.

The god smiled at her gently.

"_It's a big universe that I command, little one. Besides, your people have forgotten me. No offense, but I thought it was foolish of your people to come up with a somewhat silly religion based on beings I created in a wormhole. I did not wish to intrude. However, I could not bear to see you suffer so anymore." _He paused and looked at her with compassion and reached out a hand. _"May I?"_

"May you what?" She asked, still leery of this stranger.

"_I want to heal your poor little throat."_

She smiled back at him, not really believing that he had such power. _"Trust me, sweetie."_

"…All right." She closed her eyes, still fearful, ready to be jarred awake by a Cardassian slap across the face. Instead, she felt one of Yeshua's fingers gently touch her neck. Instantly, she felt a warm sensation. The pain in her throat was gone.

"_When you awaken, child, tell your people of me."_

Garak found out the reason why the doctor was avoiding him. Even by Cardassian standards, what had happened to the little Bajoran waif found adrift in a derelict Klingon craft a couple of days ago was appalling. He suspected that the good doctor blamed him for what had happened to her. He didn't fault him for not allowing Cardassians to enter the infirmary, but he felt an urgent need to talk with him. Now every Bajoran who saw Garak, much to his chagrin, glared at him with hatred or called him a fork-tongued monster. His tailor shop had closed, due to lack of Bajoran customers. He knew about this strange breed of Cardassians. The Obsidian Order had genetically regressed some Cardassian criminals like the Gem'Hadar, in order to quell Maqui activity along the demilitarized zone, turning them into monstrous, mindless, and sadistic killing machines. He surmised that the girl was very lucky to be alive. What he urgently needed to discuss with Julian was how many the poor young lady had killed. If she had killed only ten, then one of her abusers might still be at large.

Garak saw Julian seat himself on a stool in Quark's bar. He approached him quietly. He hadn't meant to sneak up on him, but Julian perceived it that way.

"Oh, it's you, you slimy piece of Gorn shit. What is it you want, Garak?"

"We need to talk, Doctor."

"I have nothing to say to you." Bashir glowered at him.

"I have to ask a question. This is important. It concerns your young Bajoran patient in the infirmary."

Bashir's eyes narrowed.

"What about her?"

"I understand the need for you to keep 'my kind' out of her sight, Doctor, but there is an urgent matter we need to discuss. It's about those monsters that hurt her. I know who they are."

Bashir stared at him in surprise.

"Go on."

"They are genetically altered, like our new pals in the Gamma quadrant, especially bred by the Obsidian Order to hunt down and exterminate the Maqui. They probably thought she was one of them. I need you to ask her how many of them she killed. If she killed only ten, then we are in trouble."

The doctor frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"The crew complement of a Cardassian death prison is eleven, Doctor. One of them might have escaped and has probably been masquerading as a normal Cardassian."

Bashir's com badge beeped and he slapped it, still looking at Garak with astonishment.

"Bashir here." He answered with a worried tone. He hoped Garak was wrong.

"Dr. Solith, sir. Something unprecedented has occurred. Miss Sito's throat and larynx have completely healed."

* The multivitamin shot used on Spock to fool the Kelvans into thinking he had "Rigellian Casaba Fever" in the original episode, "By Any Other Name"


	4. Terror and Regret

Overkill, chapter 4

Sito was in a corner in a fetal position after just giving birth to her first child. She was in shock, terrified, and weak from loss of blood and in terrible pain. Every time she cried out, they slapped her across the face or mercilessly kicked her while she was on the floor, adding to her misery. They had not given her any kind of anesthesia. It was a wonder she had survived. They had given her a pad to catch the blood, but it was woefully inadequate for the task. She mentally cried out to whatever god might be listening to end this torment. She felt as if she was being punished for her crime of lying about the circumstances surrounding the death of one of her fellow cadets when she was at the academy. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that the Prophets hated her. As the Cardassians savagely ripped the child out of her body, she screamed in agony, her throat already raw from the series of assaults she had been subjected to in her first year of captivity. She had dared to ask in a terrified whisper what the gender of her baby was. To her shock and horror, one of them told her only that it was lunch. She fainted.

When she came to, she found that they had shackled her into some kind of electronically enhanced chair and they had placed some kind of helmet on her head. They called the chair a mind sifter* and wanted to know something, but she didn't know how to answer.

She heard the voice of the father of her murdered child say he had to leave for the home world. He told the others to do what they wanted with her, but they were instructed not to kill her. He said he might want to mate with her again when he returned.

As she struggled in the chair, and tried to answer their questions, she felt a horrible pain in her head. They were accusing her of being a Maqui, whatever that was. She tried to tell them she had never heard of them, but when she did, the pain only got worse. They didn't want to believe that she was telling the truth. They injected her with some sort of neural paralyzer and she couldn't move, forced to watch as her now dead and baked offspring was eaten in front of her. One of them was poking holes in the dead baby's flesh with a fork, cracking a sick joke about it being a "holey infant, so tender and mild". She didn't understand the reference until another one commented how stupid the lyrics were to the human Christmas carol. Tears streamed down her face as she thought _'Sleep in heavenly peace, little one.' _She screamed from the terrible pain in her body and skull, horrified at watching her first born being consumed by these monsters. She blacked out.

When she came to again, she felt cool fingers on her temples and her nightmarish vision ended, only to be replaced with another.

She found herself in a courtroom with Nick Lucarno and the others from Nova Squadron. Captain Picard and Admiral Brand were there; Picard dressed as a judge. They all gave her stern, hateful menacing looks as Picard banged a gavel. Glaring at her with an intense look of contempt, he "sentenced" her to a life of torment for her mistake that she made in the academy, telling her that she would never be forgiven.

"_How many times do I have to say I'm sorry until someone believes me?" _She asked in the dream, her eyes filling with tears. "How many times….How many times…?" She cried aloud, coming out of her drug-induced coma.

She found that she was no longer in the strange chair, but in a comfortable bed. The pain in her abdomen was gone, but she still wept. She cautiously opened her eyes, discovering with relief and astonishment that the fingers belonged to a Vulcan doctor. She heard a man's voice.

"How is she doing, Doctor?"

"She is making remarkable progress in her recovery, Captain, but she has a long way to go. She is still having horrifying dreams about her ordeal. Even though I am a trained psychologist, I suggest that an empathic counselor be brought aboard the station. This one's emotions are too strong. They are beginning to affect me. Dr. Bashir is letting her regain some more of her strength before he operates again to repair the rest of her damaged internal organs. Nurse Shan Ra has been giving her hypo sprays of stokaline every hour. They seem to be working."

Captain Sisko peered at the poor girl in the bio bed. She still looked like she was at death's door, but color was starting to come back into her cheeks. He also saw her tears as they trickled down onto her pillow.

"I heard about her throat being miraculously healed, Doctor. Any thoughts on that?"

Solith sighed.

"It may be that Bajorans have some innate healing abilities, much like Vulcans when badly injured, although I do not completely understand why only a small portion of her body has totally healed or why it has healed so quickly." The Vulcan doctor paused for a moment before continuing. Sisko noticed her expression. It was one of reserved speculation.

"Do you have anything further to add, Doctor Solith?" He prompted gently.

"The young lady seems to believe that there was a supernatural being named Yeshua involved with the healing of her throat tissues. Of course, as a Vulcan, I would not put too much stock in that."

Sisko's eyes widened in astonishment. The name of the deity sounded very familiar. He decided to consult the computer about it when he exited the infirmary.

"Captain?"

"Yes, Doctor?"

"In her dreams, the young woman has also made mention of being involved in a crime of some sort at the academy. She feels that she is being punished for it by the Bajoran Prophets and by Captain Picard."

"I will look into that. The name of that supernatural being sounds very familiar as well." Sisko turned to Worf. "Thank you, Mr. Worf, for being so diligent in guarding this poor young lady."

"It is an honor to do so, Captain. I know something about what happened at the academy, but not the whole story. I suggest that you contact Captain Picard or Admiral Brand for details. However, I doubt very much that Sito is being punished by the wormhole aliens for something that happened so long ago."

"If she is, the Bajoran Prophets are extremely sadistic." Solith added. Sisko nodded in complete agreement.

Captain Sisko went back to his office in OPS and punched up the proper name Yeshua on his computer. He was astonished to discover that Yeshua was the original Hebrew name for Jesus. The name was a verbal derivative from "to rescue" or "to deliver". He wondered how a Bajoran girl's mind could conjure up a name of a deity that was known only to Earthlings. He then considered that perhaps what the girl said was true; that her throat was really miraculously healed by God Himself.

Next, he contacted Captain Picard on subspace. As the captain of the Enterprise-D appeared on his monitor screen, he greeted him politely.

"Captain Sisko…It's so good of you to call. How is Miss Sito?"

"She is resting comfortably, sir. However…"

"However?"

"She is quite distraught. It seems she had a bad dream in which you were a judge who condemned her to a life of torment for some kind of mistake she made while still at the academy. Can you shed some light on that, sir?"

"The poor girl…." Picard nodded solemnly. "In real life, you know I would never do such a thing, Benjamin. It was an incident right before she was to graduate from Starfleet Academy. They all wanted to try a dangerous stunt, banned by Starfleet called the Colvert Starburst."**

Sisko, of course, had heard of it and nodded. "Go on, sir."

"A cadet was killed during the attempt. Poor Sito was among those reprimanded for the stunt. Captain…it disturbs me greatly that she thinks she is being punished because of that. Even though she lied in her testimony, she certainly did not deserve to be treated so brutally by the Cardassians. If you would like, I could take a shuttle to DS9 and speak with her."

"I think you should bring along your empathic counselor as well, sir."

"That's a good idea. I will do so. I will also bring along Nurse Ogawa. She was friends with Miss Sito when she was assigned to this ship."

"I'm sure that your nurse will add some comfort for this poor girl. I will look forward to your arrival. Sisko out."

* See the original episode "Errand of Mercy" for details.

** See the Next Gen episode "The First Duty" for details.


	5. A Blot Erased

Overkill

Chapter Five

"Mr. Worf, has the briefing room been secured?" Captain Picard asked as he stepped through the entry way threshold of Deep Space Nine. Deanna Troi and Nurse Alyssa Ogawa soon followed behind the captain, with elated but concerned looks on their faces for the young woman they all thought had died five years ago.

"Yes, Captain." Worf answered politely. "Mr. Odo has asked Dr. Solith to accompany us. She is waiting for us." He was taking a break from guarding Miss Sito, who had just come out of yet another surgery. This time, Dr. Bashir had to perform a hysterectomy, for the young woman's reproductive organs were too far gone. Dr. Bashir had told Captain Sisko that her current pregnancy had to be terminated because it was ectopic. If the three-week old embryo had grown any bigger, it would have killed her. The girl was in the recovery area, still in a coma, and had not yet noticed Mr. Worf guarding her at her bedside. Thankfully, she had not had any more bad dreams since encountering the deity named Yeshua while in her subconscious state. Worf guided his former captain and the two ladies to the conference room, which had a marvelous view of the wormhole, which could be seen periodically. As they arrived, Dr. Solith stood as they entered, eyed Mr. Worf with concern, and bowed respectfully. Major Kira was also waiting for them for security purposes, the first officer still very upset at what had happened to the poor girl in the infirmary. She had her hand on a holstered phaser as they entered, her eyes opened for any Cardassian who might eavesdrop. Sisko had given his permission for her to attend this meeting. The Vulcan psychologist spoke as the room's entrance was secured.

"Sir, Captain Sisko is concerned that Miss Sito may not have killed all of her tormentors. He told me that the resident Cardassian tailor, a Mr. Garak, said that one might still be at large. It is imperative that we keep Miss Sito safe from any further harm."

"I agree, Doctor. Mr. Odo is with her now. Worf, since I know that she and you were friends, I want you to gently ask her when she awakens if she remembers how many of those devils she bumped off." Captain Picard ordered softly, having just been in the holodeck Dixon Hill simulation before hearing the incredible news of Ensign Sito being found alive. Solith raised an eyebrow at the twentieth century slang, thinking at first that the captain was being a bit too flippant.

"Captain," Troi interrupted softly, "I know you are here to ease Miss Sito's fears, but in light of her terrible dreams about you being a judge who condemned her to a life of torment, we should ask her when she wakes up if she wants to talk with you. If she sees you standing at her bedside upon regaining consciousness, it might cause further serious psychological trauma."

"Good idea, Counselor. I certainly wouldn't want her to think that her awful dream was coming true." He stood, walked towards the window, and looked out at the wormhole as it opened. He straightened his jacket and continued. "I have contacted Admiral Brand. She and I have erased the reprimand from Jackie's permanent record. Even though a Starfleet officer's record is usually purged at death anyway, I feel that this will be an act of kindness for someone who miraculously survived a horrible ordeal. It will also go far in helping her recover once we tell her about it. Almost everyone involved has been contacted and instructed not to speak of the incident at the academy again."

Nurse Ogawa smiled, thinking that it was very gracious of her superior officers to do that, and was also amused that the captain used her friend's nickname.

"I'm glad that you are doing that, sir. Giving her a clean slate is a wonderful idea." Ogawa said. Troi nodded in complete agreement. "Sir, I am curious. What do you mean by almost everyone?"

"We have not been able to locate Mr. Lucarno, her ex squadron leader. He seems to have dropped off the radar, so to speak. After being expelled from the academy, he has disappeared. There have been unsubstantiated rumors circulating that he joined the Maqui."

"If you would like, I could do a search for him." Major Kira offered. "I know where some of them are hiding. Also, if Lucarno is responsible for the latest theft of medical supplies, he should be punished."

Captain Picard drew in a breath, and then exhaled slowly.

"I appreciate your offer, Major, but I doubt very much that he is responsible. He was quite fond of Miss Sito while at the academy, and after the incident, asked the presiding officials to count him as solely responsible for the death that occurred after they tried the stunt. However, it had not been easy for the remaining female cadet either. She is also unaccounted for. Records show that she dropped out and has not been heard from. She could also have joined that group and be responsible for the theft."

"There is one other individual involved with the incident at the academy, sir." Solith said softly. "Has he been found and informed of Starfleet's decision?"

"I believe you are referring to Mr. Crusher. No, he has not been located, although I know why. He is with the alien from Tau Alpha Si, known as the Traveler and is probably exploring the universe with him. He would be rather difficult to locate."

After a few hours, Sito finally stirred and opened her eyes. Worf was at the foot of her bed, speaking to her as gently as a Klingon could. At first, she thought she was still dreaming, and felt a little fearful. She had also had a bad dream about him being in the room where she was being tortured and violated, taunting her by roughly ordering her to defend herself. She felt much better physically, however, and was no longer in any discomfort. Worf noticed that she no longer looked deathly pale. Dr. Bashir had just upgraded her condition to serious, telling him that she was making excellent progress in her recovery, thanks to the stokaline, which he learned was widely used on Bajor for cases such as hers. There was something in the medication which helped trauma victims heal the damaged parts of their bodies more quickly than other medicines.

"Welcome back, sleepy head." Worf said gently with a smile. "I am glad you are still among the living."

"Worf? How could it be you?" She asked softly in astonishment, forgetting for a moment that her throat had been healed.

"I was reassigned to this station a year ago …Jackie."

"Why…would a … Cardassian assign you to Terok Nor?" She asked a bit fearfully, now thinking that perhaps the Cardassians had taken over the Federation.

"No stinking Cardassian p'tok assigned me here, Ensign. Also, this station is now under Starfleet control and has been renamed Deep Space Nine. I am here for your protection. You will be perfectly safe as long as I am here."

"That would have been my next question…." The ensign paused for a moment, her eyes focusing on her friend. "I…never thought I would see you again, sir." She didn't want to mention her terrible dream about him.

"I did not think I would ever see you again either, Ensign…at least, not in this life. Sito…"

"Yes, sir?"

"As a Klingon, I am interested in how many of those filthy vermin you killed. If you can remember, I will make you a part of the house of Mouge."

"That's very sweet, sir, but…I can't remember. I just know I disposed of all that were on the outpost."

Worf smiled at her again, hoping that she wouldn't discover the real reason why he was asking the question.

"That is all right, Sito. I will make you a part of my family anyway. That way, the whole Empire will be pledged to keep you out of harm's way."


	6. Mind Sifter

Overkill

Chapter Six

Ensign Sito was at first very comforted, and felt more secure than she had in a very long time. She smiled at the thought of being a part of Worf's extended family and drifted off to sleep, still very tired and weak from her ordeal. Then, the bad dreams came back. Too often during the time she was held, the brutes had lulled her into a false sense of security. Too often, she had let her guard down, thinking that the Cardassians had at last stopped their attacks, only to start up again when she least expected them to. She began to panic, in her dreams being beaten, raped and strapped into the mind sifter again. She screamed and tried to break free, but it was no use.

In the real world, Bashir heard her screams and rushed to her side. Troi had just stepped into the infirmary after sensing the ensign's terror, raced to her side as well and shook her awake. For a few minutes, she continued her screams, shrinking from their touch. Bashir gave her a tranquilizer to calm her down and her panic subsided. However, now awake, she stared at the two of them fearfully, hyperventilating, not really believing that they were who they appeared to be. In her mind, the presence of Worf and Troi had become too good to be true.

Troi sensed her panic, and it deeply affected her. Two words were repeated from the ensign's tortured mind now, and Deanna gasped in horror, reading telepathically what the poor girl had gone through. She stepped away from the terror stricken girl and Worf looked at the counselor questioningly.

"She's panicking" Troi explained softly. "She doesn't think we are real and that this is all some sort of illusion, cooked up by some sort of interrogation device. I am hearing two words being repeated over and over again." The counselor was visibly shaken. Worf compassionately touched her shoulder.

"What are they, Deanna?"

"Mind Sifter."

The Klingon's eyes bugged out in astonishment and rage. The Klingon mind sifter hadn't been in use for almost a century, the technology abandoned after the incident with the Organians.* They had mistakenly believed that the device was useless as a method of interrogation.

"She was subjected to that kind of torture?! The Cardassians deserve to die for what they have done! They have no honor!"

"What does it mean, Worf? What is a mind sifter?"

"It is a tool that was once used by our people for interrogation, Deanna. If she has been subjected to it, her brain might be damaged. If she were human, she would have surely died."

"I agree, Worf." Bashir added softly, watching as the ensign lost consciousness from the strong sedative he had just injected into her blood stream. "The readings indicate that there is no brain damage, but when she first awakened, she begged us to kill her."

Major Kira overheard the last sentence as she walked into the room.

"Not true, Doctor. You forget I was there when she first awakened too. She thought we might be Cardassians in disguise. A Cardassian, if he was at all merciful, would have put her out of her misery."

"I stand corrected, Major. Counselor, I would like to introduce you to Major Kira. She is the first officer of this station."

"Nice to meet you, Major." Troi looked back at Worf. "We have to convince her that she is finally free of those fiends." The counselor paused in thought for a moment. "Perhaps it would be wise for me to leave for now. Major, you might be able to convince her. I think she would be more comfortable talking with a fellow Bajoran. My presence is upsetting her. She doesn't think I'm really here. Captain Picard and Alyssa should be made aware of this. They are eager to speak with the ensign, but in light of this new development, they will have to wait until Sito is convinced that she is safe. I would hate to think that she believes that we are Cardassian swine in disguise and that we are all ganging up on her."

Major Kira smiled.

"Good idea, Counselor. The Gratitude Festival will be here in a week. This will be a good time to convince Sito that she is no longer in their clutches, and I know just how to do it." The major turned to Dr. Bashir. "Doctor, I heard that you have taken her off of intravenous feeding. Would it be safe for her to have a jumja stick with her first real meal?"

The doctor nodded as Troi left the infirmary to talk with Captain Picard.

"She can have one or two bites of the treat, Major. She will be put on a bland semi-liquid diet until her body can readjust itself back to Bajoran norms. However, I can bet you a few bars of latinum that a bland diet would be far superior to the swill she had been forced to eat at the hands of the Cardassians for the past few years." The doctor paused for a moment, and then glanced at Worf. "The Klingon cuisine on the shuttle was also not too good, Worf. There were parasites in the food she had eaten while on it. I purged them from her system, but she is going to be sick for a while as her body readjusts."

"I understand, Doctor. I will stay with her, though. I pledged to guard her with my life and that is exactly what I intend to do."

Gul Musett landed his shuttle on the prison planet, eager to once again satisfy his sexual needs with the young woman they had captured a few years ago. He was the last of her abductors, and did not know what had happened. His superiors informed him that there had been no word or transmissions from his fellow Cardassians for a week. He was sent back to investigate. As he stepped out into the crisp air of this cold little planet, his long tongue flicked out from between his black lips. He sensed that it was too quiet around here. He heard the sound of a swinging and creaking door and stepped towards the back entrance to the complex. Upon examining the damage done to it, he realized that their little sex slave had escaped. He stepped into the building, slipped and fell on the coagulating vomit mixed with blood, and stared at the now still and disembodied Cardassian tongue in the midst of it. He picked himself up and went back to the door to assess the damage. Soon, he realized that a phaser had been used on the locking mechanism. He went to the visual logs and discovered what had happened to his friends. He contacted his superiors, who then ordered him to track the Bajoran girl down and kill her.

* "Errand of Mercy"


	7. Necessary Deceptions

Overkill, chapter 7

There was a trail of dried Bajoran blood droplets for Musett to follow from the creek to the parking lot. It wasn't hard to figure out that the girl had taken the recently procured Klingon craft in her effort to escape. She would pay for that. Using sensors on his own craft, the Cardassian quickly picked up another trail of hard radiation from the barely space worthy piece of crap they had purchased from the Klingon. He followed the radiation trail and then recognized where it was leading. Smiling evilly, he set out for Deep Space Nine. He planned to have his way with her one last time before killing her for her escape attempt. The thought of raping her one more time turned him on sexually. She was very beautiful for a Bajoran, even in her present condition, and each of his men had had a turn with her. He knew that she was hurt badly because of it, but he didn't care. To his way of thinking, she had become their property and his superiors had ordered him to kill her before she had the chance to witness against them or to bear her second unborn child. The first one that was eaten had made his officers sick, so consuming the second was not an option. He surmised that the little slave would be happy to hear about that. Of course, they did not know that it would never be born.

Miles O'Brian had been ordered by Captain Sisko to release Sito's Klingon craft from the docking clamps, bring it to a safe distance from the station via remote control, and set it to auto destruct in an attempt to fool any possible Cardassian pursuer into thinking that the poor girl died before reaching the station. It was Garak's idea. He told them that this brand of Cardassians wasn't terribly bright. If there were one more of the thugs in pursuit, he just might be tricked into believing that the craft suffered a warp core breach.

They had two other brilliant ideas for keeping Bashir's young patient alive. She had recovered enough to be temporarily moved from the infirmary. Miles had offered to keep her in his quarters for a few days. He also thought of installing holo emitters in the station's morgue drawers, to give the impression that Sito had died of her injuries, just in case her would be pursuer didn't fall for the first ruse. Miles was very glad that Keiko had taken Molly down to Bajor with her. It would be next to impossible to explain to his little girl what had happened to the ensign without frightening her needlessly.

"Those damn Cardies…" he muttered to himself, watching as the unconscious ensign was wheeled into his quarters. Bashir had brought along all the life support and medical equipment needed to ensure her complete recovery. The doctor had returned to the infirmary to test the new holo emitters, leaving his head nurse and Dr. Solith to care for the girl. The Vulcan doctor was still giving her stokaline injections every hour, and was ordered to continue until the ensign made a complete recovery. Miles looked at poor Sito and shook his head with compassion. "Don't worry, honey." He told her softly, knowing that she probably couldn't hear him. "We won't let those monsters get you." He glanced up at Worf for confirmation and his Klingon friend nodded with acknowledgment. He had recharged her little hand phaser for her, planning to give it back to her when she had fully recovered. He carried it in his pocket, just in case the last Cardassian slime ball made it this far.

Sito was back in the beautiful garden in her dreams. Her new god also looked at her with compassion, gently wiping her tears from her face. She flinched at his touch at first, but then realized he wasn't going to hurt her.

"_I'm sorry, baby. I had to show Deanna what you went through at the hands of those fiends. From now on, I will block all of the rest of your bad memories from intruding into your subconscious so you can recover. You will be safe now. The crew of the space station has taken rather elaborate measures to keep those creatures from finding you."_

"She was really on the station?"

"_Correct, little one. So are Captain Picard and your friend Alyssa. They all were very happy to find out that you had survived. They wish to visit you when you are better and out of harm's way."_

Sito's eyes widened and she started to hyperventilate with more panic when she heard that Captain Picard was on the station.

"_Don't be afraid, my child. The adversary put the bad dream into your head that your former captain hated you, playing on your guilt about the incident. Actually, Jean Luc has spoken very highly of you and is not the ogre of your dream. In fact, he and Admiral Brand have removed the incident at the academy from your permanent record. He is here to tell you about that. Please feel free to stay in this garden for as long as you like. I will remain with you. Just call upon me when you awaken if you need me, and do not be surprised to find yourself in the O'Brian's quarters."_

She stared at him in astonishment.

"He's here too? The transporter chief of the Enterprise is here?!"

Yeshua smiled at her gently.

"_He and Worf were transferred to the station while you were still in captivity, little one." _He paused and looked upon her with compassion. _"They will keep you safe."_

Major Kira glared with absolute hatred at the image of Gul Dukat as it appeared on the main viewing screen in OPS. He had heard about Garak's shop being closed and rumors about a severely injured young woman being rescued from a Klingon shuttle. He was also Musett's superior officer. He had witnessed the ship's destruction, and now knew full well that their quarry had survived her ordeal and was somewhere on the station. Bashir had just informed her that Sito had died of her injuries.

"Major, you are looking particularly lovely today." He said in his condescending way, smiling wickedly at her.

"Can it, Dukat! What are you doing here?"

"I heard about the little Bajoran girl you rescued. I have come to bring her back to Bajor."

"That's a load of horse shit, you slime! I know you and your cronies are here to kill her." She paused and looked at him with much derision and sheer contempt. "You are too late. She just died of her injuries." The major's eyes filled with tears, believing what Bashir had just told her.

"I don't believe you, Major. Be expecting me and my soon-to-arrive officer Musett to board your station to see for ourselves. If what you are saying is true, you have my sincere condolences."

"You have never been sincere about anything in your life! You want to see her mangled corpse, asshole?" The major said with real anger. "Be my guest!" She swatted the switch to break the link.

"Nice job, Major." Captain Sisko complimented pleasantly. She gaped at him with wonder and astonishment as he pressed the station's intercom button. "Security, stand by. Dukat and another officer named Musett are here. Dr. Bashir, are the emitters working properly?"

"Yes, sir." Answered the doctor. "We are all ready on this end."


	8. The Best Laid Plans

Overkill, chapter 8

Captain Sisko watched with contained hatred and Odo and Kira looked tense as Gul Dukat and Musett materialized in OPS, all station personnel present nervously hoping that their deception would be successful. However, even if it wasn't, they were not about to let these horrible fiends recapture the poor defenseless ensign. Their orders were to shoot to kill if the creeps did find out she was alive and if they tried to find and hurt her again. The girl was still in a coma in Miles' quarters and was being guarded well. Captain Sisko had asked Bashir before the Cardassians' arrival if the increased power from the medical equipment could be scanned by Cardassian sensors. The doctor thought it was possible, and since Miss Sito was recovered enough, he put the devices on their lowest settings, which Dax confirmed to be undetectable by the Cardassian sensors. Dax told them that the station's deflector shields could block any kind of probing from the Cardassians, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Also, they could not risk guards being seen outside the O'Brians' quarters. Guards outside the quarters would arouse suspicion. Worf and two other armed guards were stationed at her bedside. Doctor Solith and the head nurse were also armed. They were all under orders to shoot any Cardassians and ask questions later if they should decide to beam into the private quarters. Sito was still a Starfleet ensign, and what the fiends had done to her could most certainly be considered an act of war. Also, since Worf had made her an honorary member of his house, he could swear a blood oath and the Klingons could start a war with Cardassia if the ensign was killed. Sisko knew that the Cardassians could ill afford another war, and hoped that the thought of war with either the Federation or the Klingon Empire would be enough of a deterrent to further harm the poor girl.

They all watched as the two Cardassians stepped off the transporter pad, staring at them with contained horror and revulsion as the ugly mutated creature named Musett flicked his long snake-like tongue in the air through his black lips. They knew then that this creature was probably Sito's last remaining rapist, but they didn't let on that they knew. Sisko had to play the part of a diplomat, no matter how much it hurt. To pull off the clever deception that Sito had died of her injuries, it was important to be civil. The captain inwardly wanted to throw the mutant's worthless carcass into the station's brig or out the nearest airlock, but to do so would bring on suspicion of the ruse.

"This way…gentlemen" Sisko said, not enjoying calling them that. They were not gentlemen at all. Kira was upset, of course, but kept her peace, only glaring at the two aliens, glancing at Sisko with a mixture of wonder and worry. Dukat noticed and gave her an evil smile as they stepped into the turbolift and headed to the infirmary morgue. He wondered briefly why she hadn't begun the Bajoran death chant, and then assumed that their arrival put the non-Cardassians on edge too much. He also wondered at the increased tension of the remaining station's personnel. Something was up. The Bajorans hadn't been this anxious, even during the occupation.

The two aliens waited while Dr. Bashir nervously opened the door to the morgue and then pulled out the drawer containing the "corpse". He slowly lifted the sheet from the "body" and Dukat gently touched the ice cold "remains". He looked convinced that the body was that of the ensign. Kira and Dukat then looked on with loathing as Musett licked his lips and developed a noticeable bulge in his pants. Dukat gave the creature an icy stare of warning. He knew that the mutated animal couldn't help it, but looked at him with disgust anyway. The doctor looked at the two Cardassians with poorly contained contempt.

"Satisfied?" He asked, stone-faced and inwardly seething.

"Yes, Doctor." Dukat answered. "I am certain that the girl is really dead." He turned to his underling. The monster with the long forked tongue nodded in agreement. "We have seen enough here. Dispose of that as you see fit, Major." He said to Kira, as he pressed his communicator. She glared at him, thinking that the girl, even if this one was just a facsimile, deserved more respect. She had thought of doing the Bajoran death chant as well, but knew that it was a sin in her religion to start a chant on a person who wasn't really dead. However, she prayed fervently to the Prophets that Dukat and his evil minion were truly deceived. Dukat looked at her pensive expression curiously. "Two to beam back. Energize."

They all breathed a sigh of relief as the two aliens shimmered with the transporter effect and disappeared. However, they had a feeling that it wasn't over yet. They decided to allow the holo emitters to stay on for a few more hours to make sure the Cardassians had been fooled. Bashir tapped his com badge, which Dax had modified to a sub frequency and scrambled, so there was little chance of the Cardassian fiends picking it up, unless they became suspicious.

"Infirmary to Captain Sisko."

"Go ahead, Doctor."

"The Elvi have left the building, sir. The operation was successful."

"Very good, Doctor, but let's not get cocky just yet. There is always a chance they might get wise. We will keep your patient where she is for a couple more hours to be sure they bought it. Have the major stay in the infirmary as well, to give the impression that she is doing the Bajoran death chant."

"Understood, sir." The doctor responded with an amused and cautiously relieved smile. "Bashir out."

Major Kira smiled with admiration at the captain's knowledge of Bajoran customs, but then stared at the doctor blankly.

"What is an Elvi?"

The doctor grinned.

"They were Elvis Presley impersonators, Major. He was considered the king of rock and roll, an early form of popular music in the mid twentieth century on Earth. Late in his career, the real Elvis often wore outlandish costumes, and some thought that he had become a clownish has-been. Mr. Presley was so beloved by his fans that he was often mobbed if he ventured out by himself, and the security at his concerts had to fool the public into believing he had left without them noticing."

Back on the Cardassian ship, Musett stood at attention as Dukat scolded him for the way he acted while on the station. Then, his expression softened, as he realized that the beast couldn't help what he was and that he had to keep the fiend satisfied. He promised that soon he would abduct and drug a fresh Maqui Bajoran woman like the Borg would to quench the slime ball's carnal desires. He knew just where to hunt for one; on a nearby planet where a group of real Maqui was hiding. He was beginning to wonder if the crew of Deep Space Nine had been completely honest with him, recalling that when a Bajoran died while under his rule when the station was called Terok Nor, a death chant was usually started right away. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more suspicious he became.

Sito Liu, a middle-aged woman with a battle-scarred and care-worn but gentle face, steered the stolen Starfleet shuttle towards Deep Space Nine. She had heard from a Euridian trader only recently that her child still lived, was badly hurt, and that she was being cared for on the space station. She was risking a lot to get there to see if it was true. She had to pay the Euridian a lot of money for the information, but to her, if it was true, it would be worth it. If it was not, then she would have made the trip for nothing and the Cardassians would probably retaliate for her many crimes she committed against them. When she had learned from Starfleet that the Cardassians had murdered her only child, she was so outraged and upset that she decided to join the Maqui to avenge her daughter's death. Since then, she took the lives of many Cardassians and she had become a wanted fugitive. She did not know that her daughter had suffered the consequences of some of her acts of vengeance.


	9. A Mother's Love

Overkill, chapter nine

Sito Liu stepped through the airlock threshold onto the space station, looking around furtively. Even though most paid little attention to her, she was on guard and anxious, although she looked like any other Bajoran. Also, she knew that most Cardassians thought that they all looked alike. Even though that was mostly considered an insult, she was grateful for that prejudice. It meant that it would take them a while to figure out that she had dared to board the space station. However, she did not really care. She had decided for her daughter's safety, if she was truly alive, to not let anyone know who she was as she docked the stolen Starfleet shuttle she was driving to the station, telling the one who greeted her only that she was there to visit the Bajoran temple on the promenade, in preparation for the Gratitude Festival. Soon, she found that she was being eyed by Odo, who looked at her curiously. She knew at once that he obviously knew who she was and he could tell from her demeanor that she was not on the station for the reason she stated and that the shuttle she had been on had been recently stolen by the Maqui.

"Madam, I am the station's chief of security. You are under arrest for stealing Starfleet property."

Liu stared at him, startled at first that the security officer knew her craft had been stolen, but then she smiled with a bit of relief, realizing that this alien was just the man who could direct her to Captain Sisko.

"I realize that, but, first, I must speak with the Emissary." She answered with outward calm. "It is urgent."

"Many Bajorans want to see the 'Emissary'." Odo said gruffly. "What's it about?"

"It's about my daughter, sir." She answered a bit more irritably than she intended, trying to keep her voice from carrying, even though she could not disguise the great concern and tension in her voice and her facial expression. "I am here to see if she's alive or dead."

Odo's expression turned into a look of astonishment at this woman's courage. There had been intelligence reports that the Cardassians were on the prowl for fresh Bajoran blood, targeting the Maqui resistance fighters hiding on a nearby planet, but he never thought that one would be so bold as to board the station while their enemies were so close by, even if she was the mother of the poor young ensign, who was still unconscious and under guard in the O'Brians' quarters.

"You took a big risk coming here, Mrs. Sito." He paused and looked at her thoughtfully, knowing by the anxious and worried look on her face that she was sincere. "No matter. Come with me."

She complied, not saying much as the shape shifter guided her into Sisko's office. Odo stood by the door, his phaser drawn. He took a defensive stance as Sisko stood, eyeing him and then the woman curiously.

"Who is this, Constable?"

"Before I answer that, Captain, I want to make sure that your office isn't bugged."

"Go ahead and use the sensors, Mr. Odo, but I can assure you that there are no listening devices here."

"Very well, Captain. I will take your word for it. This is Sito's mother. She has come to find out the condition of her daughter."

Liu stepped forward anxiously and briefly nodded respectfully.

"Emissary, is my Jaksa still alive?"

Sisko paused and looked at her with compassion, knowing that, as a parent, she had every right to know the details about what her daughter had been through, shocking as they may be.

"Yes, Mrs. Sito. She is alive, but not well. I must tell you that we had to lie to the Cardassians by telling them that she died of her injuries. She is being cared for in a secured location on the station, until they leave and are convinced of her demise."

"What did they do to her?" Liu asked, tears brimming in her eyes.

"She has been tortured, starved, beaten and sodomized. She was almost dead when we found her."

Liu gasped in horror and then started to sob, her hands over her face. Sisko wanted to reach out and give her a hug, but quickly thought better of it. She might misconstrue his intentions.

"She will be all right, Mrs. Sito." He said gently. "Our doctor Bashir is taking good care of her."

Mrs. Sito looked up at him, tears still streaming down her face. She now knew what she must do to keep those monsters from finding her daughter, suddenly feeling as if she was partly responsible for what had happened to her only child.

"Let me talk to those beasts, Captain."

"If we do let you talk to them, they will know that she is still alive and will try to find her and kill her."

"It's me they are really after, sir. To them, I am a wanted criminal, who has killed many of their kind. Besides, I love my daughter so much that I will give myself over to them in exchange for her safety and her life. Also, I know that the one guarding her is a Klingon and her former commanding officer from the Enterprise. He will not let them hurt her."

"You are a very brave woman, Mrs. Sito, but I can't let you risk your life on her behalf."

She peered at him curiously, her earring catching the overhead lights. It was simple, but beautiful.

"Do you have children, Captain?"

"Yes, I have a son."

"If your son was in mortal danger from a deadly foe, would you not risk your life to save his?"

"Yes, I suppose I would." Sisko answered in a still uncertain manner.

"I love my daughter, Captain, even though I persuaded her to join Starfleet." She wiped her tears with her sleeve and smiled wanly. "Ironic, isn't it? I thought she would be safer in Starfleet than she would be on Bajor. I know now that Bajorans aren't safe anywhere."

"Mrs. Sito…I can assure you that your daughter is safe and that you are now also under our protective custody." Sisko answered gently.

"That's very kind of you, sir, but my life ended figuratively when I thought my child was murdered by these horrible spoon heads. Now that I know she's really alive, and that she suffered a fate worse than death at their filthy hands, I feel obligated as a mother to help her. Let me talk to the Cardassians."

Sisko admired the woman's bravery and nodded in agreement.

Gul Dukat slowly began to realize that he had been deceived. There had been too much tension in the air when he was last on Deep Space Nine and he now remembered seeing a strange glow around the corpse in the station's morgue. He came to the inescapable conclusion that they had used a holographic projection in order to save the real girl. It could be nothing else, since they did not have time to make a clone or an android. However, it puzzled him that they would construct such an elaborate ruse for such an insignificant young woman. He had dismissed Musett, not informing him of the obvious deception. He decided to let the girl live, given the fact that they placed so much value on her. There would be others. There was also the fact that his Obsidian Order sources told him that the girl's mother had bravely boarded the station. He already knew that she was a known Maqui terrorist, and that she was the mother of the badly injured girl they had captured. They had assumed that Jaksa was a Maqui as well, but she would not break under the mind sifter. Each time her mother killed one of them, they had punished Jaksa in her place. As a parent as well, he could now relate to what Mrs. Sito was probably feeling and finally realized that they had nearly killed an innocent girl. He admired her mother's courage as he pressed the communication button on his command chair to find out if his suspicions about miss Sito were correct.

The face of Major Kira peered at him with obvious disdain from his main viewing screen. Captain Picard was there as well, also not appearing too glad to see the Cardassian on the viewing screen. The girl's mother was standing next to them, her face expressionless. However, her eyes were filled with tears.

"Dukat" Kira greeted coldly. "What do you want?"

"You almost had me going for a while, Major. She's alive, isn't she?"

The major could feel her heart leap into her throat, but she maintained a calm exterior. Tears were falling from the older woman's tired-looking eyes and she also looked upon him with great loathing.

"Why do you think that?"

"Because you weren't doing that insipid death chant over her remains, Major. Also, your people on the station were too nervous and furtive. It didn't take too long to put two and two together. If she's alive, she must be put on trial for her crimes against the Cardassian people."

"You MONSTER!" The older woman screamed as Major Kira and Picard tried to hold her back. "You nearly murder my child and you have the balls to accuse her of committing a crime! Let me tell you, something, Mr. garbage bird! My daughter is innocent and was only trying to defend herself! I killed out of anger and revenge because I thought you slime devils had killed her five years ago! If you are going to arrest someone, then arrest me and leave her alone!"

"Gul Dukat" Picard added stiffly. "Ensign Sito did nothing wrong. She merely volunteered to bring one of your people back into Cardassian space. What you and your vile mutants did to her was utterly barbaric and totally uncalled for."

Dukat smiled at Liu, but could tell that she was still outraged. He was puzzled by the obvious intended insult she had just come up with.

"I have no intention of arresting anyone, Mrs. Sito. I am a parent too and understand now why you did the things you did. Why do you call me a garbage bird and use such a disrespectful tone of voice?"

"I have no respect for rapists and murderers, spoon head! My daughter told me about a species of birds on Earth called sea gulls. They are filthy things like you! Let my daughter live and I will take her place as your prisoner!"

Dukat's eyes widened in astonishment. He had not seen such love before, even among his own kind.

"I understand your anger, Mrs. Sito. I admire your courage and your incredible love for your daughter. If you renounce your association with the terrorist group known as the Maqui, I will absolve you of your crimes you have committed and let you and your daughter live."

Major Kira pulled her aside and whispered into her ear.

"I wouldn't trust him, Mrs. Sito. He's obviously lying." Kira turned to the main viewing screen and addressed Dukat aloud. "I will give you fair warning, Dukat. If you try and board this station or attempt to find Miss Sito, we will open fire on your craft and exterminate every one of you!"

"You will leave immediately, Gul Dukat, or we will carry out the major's threat." Picard added, anger mounting in his voice.

"Do not worry, Captain, Major. Since you are putting such a high value on the little ensign, we will not risk another war with your people or the Federation. We have problems enough with the Dominion. Good day,Captain and ladies. Mrs. Sito, you just earned your and your daughter's freedom. Please accept my apologies."

"Go to hell!" Liu shouted, just before Kira cut the connection.

Dukat set course for Cardassia Prime, turned his ship about, and left.


	10. Faith No More

Overkill, chapter 10

Unknown to Dukat, Musett overheard him say that Sito was still alive. Even though he usually obeyed the orders of his superior officers, this time his carnal desires got the better of him. He had absolutely no morals or conscience, and he still wanted to rape Sito again and watch her die for real. He had taken pride in being the most brutal of all of the girl's abductors. The thought of having his way with her and slowly killing her in the process gave him a hard on. He also thought of how proud Dukat would be when he told him how efficiently he had killed the beautiful little terrorist. While Dukat and the rest made their way to the Maqui planet, he stole a shuttle and set course back to the station, licking his black lips and flicking his long forked tongue with anticipation of the things he planned to do to the Bajoran girl he had frequently assaulted for the past five years. He remembered how she used to scream for mercy and in agony until she lost her ability to do so. After that, her moans of pain were still enough to keep him at it for hours until she lost consciousness or when he was forced to stop by the others or his superiors. He smiled evilly and panted heavily with anticipation as he steered the shuttle back to the station.

Counselor Troi and Major Kira were at the ensign's bedside, along with Solith and Bashir. Sito's mother had asked to see her, but Troi suddenly sensed that the Cardassians weren't through with the poor girl just yet. She had a strong sense that Sito was still in mortal danger. If they were to escort Liu to the O'Briens' quarters, they might inadvertently give away Sito's present location to the Cardassians. However, the counselor was told by Bashir that the lone remaining Cardassian on the station who knew where they had hidden the girl had tried to save the ensign's life and she and Bashir were confident that he would never divulge the ensign's location to the rest of his kind, especially those loathsome mutants. Troi also knew that Liu didn't understand their reluctance to let her see her daughter and her emotions were running so high that Troi and Dr. Solith were able to pick up her fears that the reason they were keeping her away was that her daughter was really dead. Troi had asked Miles to go to Odo's office where Sito's mother was being detained for questioning about her ties with the Maqui and her theft of a Starfleet shuttlecraft and to try to convince her otherwise. Miles had rigged up a security camera in his quarters so Mrs. Sito could see for herself that her daughter was indeed alive and was being expertly guarded. When she saw the people surrounding her daughter's bedside, she was finally convinced. After all, nobody would be guarding a corpse.

"Curious" The Vulcan doctor said softly, studying the overhead readouts and glancing down at their patient, watching her chest rise and fall with her shallow breathing. "The sedative I gave the ensign earlier should have worn off by now."

"It has." Troi answered, picking up on the ensign's fears that this was all some sort of Klingon mind sifter illusion, and that they were all really Cardassians in disguise, for the umpteenth time attempting to lull her into a false sense of security. "She's afraid to open her eyes."

Solith frowned.

"That is illogical, Counselor. She has been on this station for over a week and we have not let anyone harm her. Surely she knows by now that she is safe."

"I take it you haven't been a practicing psychologist for very long, Doctor. You are probably used to dealing with Vulcan patients or other species that control their emotions. It is only natural for a non-Vulcan trauma victim like this to be frightened. I can sense and understand her fear, and she is probably suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. She still has a long way to go in her recovery."

The Vulcan doctor and Bashir nodded pensively in agreement as Worf interrupted.

"Fear is the last enemy that Sito will have to conquer. The Cardassians gave it back to her when she was in captivity, and she has been living in it for five years."

"Agreed, Mr. Worf. However, she must stay here in these quarters until the danger I sense has passed and her last remaining rapist is apprehended." As Troi spoke, she noticed that Sito had finally gathered up enough courage to open her eyes. She looked with cautious optimism at all of them. Troi smiled compassionately at her, and for the first time in five years, Sito did not feel that there was a sinister ulterior motive underlying the smile.

"Her mother wants to be here with her after the captain authorizes her release, but Troi is right." Major Kira said softly. "We can't take the chance of those monsters tracking poor Jackie down and hurting her again. Liu is still very angry with us for letting him depart the station unpunished with Dukat, but I reluctantly agreed with the decision to let him go."

"We had little choice, as you know, Major." Bashir answered. "If we had let on that she was still alive, it would have been a lot easier for them to track her down while they were here on the station than it would be with sensors on their ship."

There was a whimper of fear coming from their patient when she heard that one of her tormentors was still on the loose, and tears streamed down her drawn face at the prospect of being recaptured by those horrible mutants.

"Counselor…Troi?" Sito asked softly with cautious optimism.

"Yes, Ensign. I'm here. You are safe now. We won't let those monsters get you."

"It is a time for great Peldar joy, Jaksa." Major Kira informed the girl gently. "The Gratitude Festival will be here in a week. You will be well enough to attend by then. We have a lot to be thankful for this year. The Prophets brought you home to us."

To Kira's surprise, the girl started to laugh hysterically.

"The Prophets? The Prophets...the so-called Prophets are nothing but stupid aliens in a manufactured wormhole. They don't know me and I don't know them. They deserted me in my time of need. They hate me and I hate them. I serve a new god now. Yeshua is the only one who helped me escape those brutal goons. The so-called Prophets did not lift a finger to help me." She paused, observing the shocked look on the red-haired older woman's face. She closed her eyes, still weakened from her long ordeal, suddenly not caring if she was punished for her words. "I am grateful for my rescue... for your doctors who are helping me, but the prophets deserve nothing but swift kicks in their groins."

Major Kira knew, of course, that Sito wasn't the first Bajoran to lose her faith in the Prophets, but to hear such venomous hatred for them coming from the badly injured ensign was still a bit shocking. She wished that Vedek Bariel was still alive. He could at least help her come to terms with what had happened to her. Kira herself had once lost faith in them, until the discovery of the Celestial Temple and the return of the Orbs. She gave a thought to the new Kai, but then thought better of it. Winn would probably do more harm than good. She seemed to be more interested in power than in helping her fellow Bajorans.


	11. The Uninvited

Overkill

Chapter Eleven

Major Kira stayed with Sito, watching as the girl closed her eyes in fear. She was still extremely weak from her long ordeal, and she winced, as if expecting someone to hit her for speaking her mind. Of course, the major had no thoughts of retaliation, and looked upon the ensign with compassion. After a few moments, the girl opened her eyes and gazed at the major with uncertainty.

"I'm sorry...Major. I should not have popped off at you like that."

"Don't worry about it, my dear. You had every right to say what you did. I have experienced the brutality of the Cardassians myself during the occupation of our planet. We all have. I have been where you are spiritually. I, too, thought that the Prophets had deserted us. But...I believe they brought you to this station."

"I don't." The girl said simply, a tear escaping down her drawn face.

"I know you don't. So how did you get to the station?" Kira asked gently.

"I...set the autopilot for Terok Nor." The girl responded in a puzzled tone. "The Klingon craft brought me here."

"That's not possible, honey. If you set it for Terok Nor, the ship would have brought you into Bajor's orbit and you would have died. It's very possible that the Prophets took pity on you and guided the craft to the station's new location."

"Do you really believe that?" The ensign asked incredulously.

"I want to believe that, but you can believe whatever you want."

The girl started to cry as she closed her eyes again. For five years, she was not allowed to voice any kind of opinion. Then, she began to hyperventilate in sudden panic. "What's wrong, Ensign?"

"The Cardassian! He's found me! He's going to hurt me again!"

"He will not touch you, Ensign." Worf said. "I will kill him before he reaches you. There are no Cardassians here."

"Yes, there are!...The stench of Cardassian pheromones!" The girl screamed. "Can't you smell it?! Don't let them get me! Don't let them-!"

Dr. Solith reached down and dispassionately administered a neck pinch, sensing her patient's growing panic and increasing heart rate. As the girl gasped and lost consciousness, the intercom in the O'Brians' quarters went off. Instantly alert to possible danger to Sito, Worf answered it, ready for anything.

The face of Kai Winn appeared on the viewing screen, much to Kira's chagrin and astonishment.

"Mr. O'Brian? What did you do to yourself?" The new Kai joked with a gentle smile, knowing full well that she was talking to a Klingon.

"I am Worf; a new addition to Odo's security staff." He responded patiently. "Who are you and why are you calling?"

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Worf. I'm Kai Winn." She responded, showing no fear of him. Worf respected that. "I have just arrived on the station in preparation for the Gratitude Festival. Your Mr. O'Brian offered his services to set up the Peldar apparatus. He has helped in the past, and I would like to talk to him, if you don't mind."

"Now is not a good time. Mr. O'Brian is elsewhere, busy with other matters."

The Kai smiled.

"Ah, I heard about the poor child you found recently. Is she all right?"

"She lives, but is not well. Your timing is fortuitous, Kai."

"How so?"

"She is in need of spiritual guidance."

Alarmed, Major Kira glared at Worf. The Kai noticed but ignored it.

"I would be happy to help her in that department. Where is she?"

"I am not at liberty to divulge that information." Worf answered, now growing suspicious of her intentions.

"I understand, Worf." She answered smoothly.

"What is your location?" He asked gruffly.

"I am with Mr. Odo in his security office. He provided this link for me. I will wait until she is ready for my services."

"Kai, did you see any Cardassians when you arrived?" Worf asked on a hunch.

"Why, yes, Mr. Worf. I did. I couldn't help but notice a very strange-looking one."

"Describe him."

"He had a long forked tongue and black lips. He looked quite menacing. He also stank to high heaven." The Kai looked a little nauseated as she spoke the last sentence. Worf glanced back at the unconscious ensign with astonishment, wondering how she knew that the Cardassian mutant had come aboard the station.

Dr. Bashir was on his lunch break, having spent long hours caring for his poor Bajoran patient. Garak approached him pensively. The good doctor noticed him and nodded to him to seat himself. The Cardassian complied.

"Hello. Doctor. Am I still a slimy piece of Gorn shit? How is your sweet young patient?"

"No, my friend. I'm sorry about that. I was very upset at the poor girl's maltreatment and I took it out on you...She is recovering slowly, Garak. She is being moved back to the infirmary as we speak. I have to perform further surgeries on her damaged internal organs." The doctor looked up at him, hoping that the Cardassian wouldn't pick up on the lie he just uttered. He still didn't completely trust him, so he felt the lie was justified. He was not about to move her back to the infirmary until the danger had passed and her last remaining rapist was caught or killed. He was about to tell another white lie, hoping that his Cardassian companion would buy it. "She also expressed an interest in meeting you, Garak. You may have saved her life."

"You are not a good liar, Doctor. I know that she is terrified of my race."

Julian thought quickly.

"She is terrified of the people who abducted and tortured her, Garak. I assured her that you would not harm her and showed her a picture of you. I even temporarily lifted the ban on Cardassians entering the infirmary for you."

"It is an enticing offer, Doctor, but I can see by the look on your face that you're hiding something. It is not like you to resort to subterfuge."

"Look, Garak. This is a limited time offer. I won't go into detail, but there is a monster aboard this station, trying to seek the poor girl out, in order to do God knows what to her. I have to keep her safe at all costs, even if it means telling a little white lie...or two." Bashir answered nervously, taking a sip of Saurian brandy.

Musett moved towards the infirmary, a Cardassian phaser in his hand. The room appeared to be populated with several medical personnel. He saw who he thought was Dr. Bashir in red surgical attire, operating on his intended victim, took aim with his phaser and shot the doctor in the back at point blank range. As the doctor fell to the floor, apparently mortally wounded, the Cardassian beast moved towards the girl, opened his pants, and panted and drooled with anticipation. As he bent over her, she opened her eyes, let out a blood curdling scream, and appeared to faint...

The real Bashir came running, hearing her scream, Garak following close behind. The Cardassian tailor whipped out his own weapon and fired at Musett, just as he was lifting the poor girl's body off the operating table. The beam disintegrated him. To Garak's and the real Dr. Bashir's astonishment, the facsimile of Miss Sito awakened from her apparent bout with syncope, looked up at them and smiled as Garak gently lifted her from the floor and put her back onto the table. Then, to the real Dr. Bashir's astonishment, all 'medical personnel' and the facsimile of Miss Sito disappeared as Miles O'Brien turned off the holo emitters, a proud smile on his face.

Puzzled, the real Dr. Bashir looked at O'brian, and then at Garak questioningly. His Cardassian friend grinned.

"I told you they weren't terribly bright, Doctor. Nice job, Mr. O'Brian."

Bashir gaped at his friend. "Don't look so surprised, Doctor. O'brian let me in on his little act of deception." He smiled at the doctor again. "I see you don't completely trust me. There's some hope for you after all."

In her dreams, Sito found herself in the beautiful Betazoid garden again. Yeshua had his back to her, apparently looking up at a majestic evergreen tree. She smiled as she approached him, calling out his name. He turned to greet her and she screamed in utter terror. He was a fork-tongued Cardassian. She started to run from him, but he tackled her to the ground and began to rip off her clothes.

"Yeshua, why?! Please... stop!" She begged breathlessly.

"I'm not Yeshua. I am a Maqui." It said, now on top of her. She screamed and flailed, trying without success to get him off of her, unaware that he just triggered a change in her brain, as a result of the torture of the mind sifter. His real purpose accomplished, the adversary vanished as she started to convulse in a grand mal seizure.


	12. The Prophets

Overkill, chapter 12

Ensign Sito was rushed back to the infirmary and put back on life support, after Sisko, Odo and Worf had made sure that all was secure. She was in a coma, but the convulsions had subsided somewhat. At last, her mother was allowed to be with her and wept at the sight of her beloved daughter's condition. Even though Liu was relieved that Jaksa was alive, she looked terrible. Her face was covered by an oxygen mask, but Liu could see that it was deathly pale and thin, and there were bruises on her upper cheeks and on her body from the years of abuse she had suffered at the hands of her horrible abductors. Doctor Solith, who had done another gentle meld, said that she was now suffering from some kind of shock, brought about by a very vivid nightmare. However, they were still uncertain as to how the girl could have suffered an epileptic seizure, even though they knew that the ensign had been subjected to a Klingon mind sifter during her captivity. She had come to the logical conclusion that her present condition had something to do with the device, and that whatever happened in her dreaming state had triggered some kind of post-hypnotic suggestion, causing her mind to close in on itself. Worf and Troi concurred with the diagnosis, all doctors present agreeing that the poor patient was also suffering from paranoid delusions and from post traumatic stress disorder. She was also probably still reliving some of her experiences with the Cardassians in her subconscious.

Jaksa lay on her aching back on the ground in her dreams for a few minutes, too frightened to move. She played dead, and then realized that she was alone and that the smelly creature that had pinned her to the ground and almost raped her had vanished. A gentle breeze caressed her tear-streaked cheeks as she slowly and shakily pulled herself up from the soft grass and looked around furtively. She was in a clearing, surrounded by the natural beauty of a Betazoid garden. There appeared to be a man-made and rather large round flat transporter platform nearby. Still terrified that the creature that had attacked her would return and finish what he started, she quickly crawled to it, a male voice in her head telling her that she would be safe there. Even though it sounded like her new god, she decided to trust it. She felt very unsafe in the garden now. As she pulled herself onto the platform, she closed her eyes in exhaustion, strangely feeling more secure when she reached it, like a child quickly crawling into bed to avoid an imaginary monster from beneath. She felt herself dissolve in a shower of transporter sparkles as she, too weak to move anymore, lost consciousness.

When she came to her senses, she found that she was on a biobed in a room that resembled part of the sickbay on the Enterprise. However, it seemed different, as if the environmental controls had gone awry. There was a soft fog surrounding her on all sides. Soon, she heard the familiar voice of Doctor Crusher, only she knew in a moment that it wasn't really her.

"_It is corporeal...injured."_

"_Is it the one called Sito?" _Another being asked, resembling Counselor Troi.

"_It is." _Answered the first being. _"The Sisko and our mutual creator will be pleased. She will be safe here."_

"Who are you?" The ensign asked, now quite bewildered and still terrified. "Where am I?"

"_You are here with us, Sito. We are what you call the Prophets."_

Jaksa gasped in utter terror, thinking that they were going to punish her for her words of hatred towards them. She could not move because of her fear and dream paralysis, and she closed her eyes, expecting the worst. Instead, one of them gently caressed her cheek and then gently placed a hand on her forehead. Sito felt some of her fear drain away at the gentle touch as the Prophet spoke again to her, softly. _"Do not fear, young one. We do not have any malice towards you. We are temporarily healing you from the effects of the device the Cardassians used on you. However, beware of the word that triggered your seizure. We will prevent you from hearing it for a while."_

"Word? What word?"

"_We should not tell you. It would cause your tortured mind to return to its former state too soon. Just beware and do not be surprised that we have made you deaf for a while. The one you call mother is holding your hand in your waking world at this moment. She might utter the word that triggered your seizure."_ The wormhole alien gave her a gentle smile, and it calmed her fears a little.

"Did you guide the Klingon craft to the station?" Sito asked courageously.

"_Yes, child. Yeshua told us that you needed our help. We are sorry that we could not help you earlier, but we did not hear your prayers. You were too far away from us. The creature who attacked you in the garden was a pah wraith, not the king of the universe. The humans would call him a demon, and he was attempting to destroy your new faith. Even though we know that your people consider us gods and we have many abilities, we do not possess the abilities of our mutual Creator. Our healing abilities are only temporary. His are eternal and He loves you. Be at peace, young one."_ With that, the room and the wormhole aliens slowly dissolved and Sito found herself back in an infirmary bed on Deep Space Nine.

Mrs. Sito and the doctors watched with amazement as the ensign's overhead readings began to stabilize and she regained consciousness. After a few moments, she realized that her mother was there and that she was holding her hand. However, she still didn't really believe what she was seeing. She moaned softly because her head hurt.

"This is extraordinary." Solith said, and Bashir agreed. "There are few residual signs of brain injury from her epileptic episode." To be certain, she waved a medical scanner over the ensign's head. "However, I am concerned that she has developed a small lesion on her brain and somehow her tympanum membranes have been disabled." The Vulcan doctor turned to Major Kira, who looked just as astonished as the rest of them. "I do not know a lot about Bajoran physiology, Major." The Vulcan doctor admitted softly. "How could this occur?"

The major thought for a moment.

"On rare occasions, some of our people, when under a great deal of stress, use a form of biofeedback to disable one or more of their senses. It is a defense mechanism few possess. I'm guessing that this is the case here."

"That's as good an explanation as any." Bashir said with a shrug. He smiled at their patient, who returned it with a bit of uncertainty. He could tell that she was not suffering from acute paranoia like she was a few hours ago. However, her condition was still serious and she still looked a little scared. He could hardly blame her, but was now more concerned with the lesion on her brain and her apparent hearing loss. Mrs. Sito squeezed her daughter's hand.

"Baby, I know you can't hear me, but are you all right?" There were still tears in her eyes. They all knew that she felt guilty about her daughter's present condition, even though it wasn't really her fault.

"She must be hungry by now, but how can we ask her?" Bashir asked, having recently taken her off of intravenous feedings.

"Perhaps a simple pantomime would suffice." The Vulcan doctor suggested, touching the ensign's shoulder to get her attention. The girl recoiled in fear at first, but then realized that she wasn't going to be struck.

Solith gestured to her mouth and mimed the act of eating. Counselor Troi smiled with approval as it worked. She had been correct about the doctor's credentials. She found out that she had just graduated from the Vulcan medical academy and this was her first trauma case. Sito calmed herself and nodded with obvious guarded relief as the newly fledged Vulcan psychologist went to a nearby replicator.

"Remember, Doctor, pick something bland." Bashir admonished. The Vulcan nodded with acknowledgment as she ordered plomeek soup. Bashir and Troi smiled. That was as bland as anyone could get.

Sito spoke softly, unable to hear her own voice, but they heard her clearly.

"I could really use some hasparate." She was joking, of course, for she knew that the Bajoran delicacy would upset her stomach. However, she was feeling better than she had in a long time, now that her mother was present, and she was finally feeling safer as well. It was good to see familiar faces, even though, in the back of her mind, she was still fearful that this was all some kind of illusion. However, they had not harmed her since she regained consciousness, and she felt more like herself again. The Vulcan doctor held out a spoonful of the soup.

"I will make you some when you are better." Mrs. Sito said with tears of joy and relief, forgetting for a moment that she wasn't able to hear her.

Jaksa did not realize how hungry she was, and she found the Vulcan soup to be delicious, compared to the slop she had been forced to eat during her long imprisonment. She devoured the food too quickly, making herself nauseous in the process. She vomited, and then flinched in sudden fear, expecting a slap across the face, or worse.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry! Please don't hit me!" A flood of bad memories invaded her mind of the cruelty of her alien abductors. She closed her eyes in anticipation of the blows that she thought were sure to follow, but after a few minutes, she realized that they weren't going to hurt her. She suddenly felt very tired of being in constant fear and felt relieved as they gently cleaned her up. She drifted off into a dreamless sleep, feeling secure at last.


	13. Approach Avoidance

Overkill, chapter 13

Counselor Troi was only now beginning to realize the deep-seated feelings of anger, resentment and hatred Benjamin Sisko had built up for Captain Picard. She understood that he still blamed him for his wife's death during the battle with the Borg at Wolf 359. Up until now, the emotions of love, anger towards the Cardassians and concern for Miss Sito were masking Sisko's feelings towards Jean Luc. Finding Miss Sito had brought back his hostile feelings towards Captain Picard. He had wondered why the captain had assigned such a dangerous task to a green young ensign who was fresh out of the academy, and he had mostly avoided Picard since their arrival on the station. Jean Luc had asked her to find out why, as he put it, in her usual tactful way. She knew she already had her work cut out for her concerning Sito, but there was time now for her to discover why Sisko still had feelings of resentment towards her captain, years after their shared experience with the machine beings. Sito was going to be unconscious for a few hours, following her final surgery to repair her damaged internal organs. Her mother had nearly fainted from exhaustion, having kept vigil at her daughter's bedside for three days. She was so intent to stay with her daughter, she hadn't eaten or slept. Odo had agreed to drop the charges of theft of a Starfleet shuttle against her, and she had been assigned guest quarters. At the moment, she was asleep; Bashir at last giving her a fast-acting sedative to get her out of the infirmary so he could operate on her daughter, and she had been carried away on a stretcher to her new quarters, where she would be asleep for at least eight hours. She was also put on intervenous feeding so she could regain her strength. Nurse Ogawa was asked to stay with her, so when she awakened, she would be able to find out where they had put her or if any complications arose. Odo had also posted a guard at her door, just in case the Cardassians decided to exact revenge against her.

Captain Benjamin Sisko had barely tolerated Picard's use of his first name, finding his use of it condescending when he had first contacted him via subspace about Sito, but because of the concern everyone had for the poor girl, he had brushed it off. However, as cordial as they both had been to each other, he still did not wish to become friends with the person he thought had killed his wife. He had decided to be civil during their conversation, but it was getting harder now that he was on the station, to mask his seething hatred for the man. It was easier to mask it when Picard was still light years away and up until now, he had kept his rage bottled up. He feared that if he approached him now, he would rip his head off and feed it to a Klingon targ.

Speaking of Klingons, Sisko had asked Worf to contact the Klingon home world to find out what he could about the antique device used on Sito during her long ordeal, so Dr. Bashir and Dr. Crusher, who had assisted in Sito's final surgery, could help her with the obvious damage done to her mind. Worf also wondered how Sito knew that the slain mutant had boarded the station. Both Solith and Bashir considered it a mere coincidence. She probably didn't really know, and it was all in her tortured mind. They were all also very concerned that, once she had awakened, she would exhibit further signs of dementia. According to Doctor Solith, she was beginning to have more disturbing dreams. Even though her overhead readings had remained stable, she still was having involuntary nervous tics, and she whimpered in fear in her dreams occasionally, as if she was being chased by some unknown phantom.

Counselor Troi stood at the entrance to Captain Sisko's door, and then pensively pressed the buzzer.

"Enter" Sisko's voice called out after a few seconds. He had noticed her arrival through his window. He had an idea as to why she wanted to see him, but also figured that she was there to report on Sito's mental condition. She complied, looking rather petite and demure in her blue Starfleet uniform. He stood as she entered. "Please, be seated."

"Thank you, sir. There is something I wish to discuss with you. Now that things have calmed down and are back to normal on this station, I would like to know why I am sensing such hostility from you."

Sisko could contain himself no longer.

"It is because Picard murdered my wife at Wolf 359!"

"You believe he murdered your wife?" Troi asked with a shocked expression on her face.

"Yes, I do." He studied her shocked expression for a moment, his tone softening. "When I first contacted him about finding Miss Sito, he tried to ingratiate himself with me by using my first name."

"I sense that he has great sympathy for your loss, sir. He only wishes to be your friend."

"I don't want to be his!" Sisko shouted. He towered above her as he stood. For a moment, she thought he was going to hit her. "I also would like to know why he put that ensign's life in danger by making her go on such a hazardous assignment."

"She volunteered. Captain Picard wouldn't have ordered her to risk her life." She answered nervously. "The assignment was rather simple and straight forward, and he felt she could handle it. She had much courage, and knew the risks involved." Troi also considered her captain a friend, as did First Officer Will Riker, but the crew of the Enterprise had to maintain a professional relationship with him on board the ship. She knew that he did not have many friends outside of his professional life. She looked into Benjamin Sisko's eyes and noticed that they were starting to brim with tears of grief. "As for Captain Picard, sir, he's not a murderer. Do you have any idea what it is like to be captured and altered by the Borg?"

"Not really, Counselor." He admitted softly.

"They strip away everything that makes a person who they are. Captain Picard was not himself when he was Locutus of Borg." She let out a shuttering sigh, remembering how he looked when he was rescued. "He was not in control of his own faculties. He was forced to behave in ways that were completely contrary to his nature. I would also like you to know that he still has nightmares about his ordeal and very much regrets what he was forced to do as a Borg. May I be candid with you, sir?"

"Of course, Counselor." Sisko responded, now looking rather abashed and ashamed of himself.

"If you want to continue to hold a grudge against Captain Picard, that is your right. However, I suggest that you jettison your emotional baggage and let bygones be bygones. If you do not, your hatred will eat away everything that makes you human, as easily as the Borg does."

Sisko sat in silence for a few minutes, all of his anger and hatred towards Picard beginning to drain away. If what the counselor said was true, the captain of the Enterprise D could indeed use a friend.

Garak had his shop back. The Bajorans on the station heard of his heroic actions, saving the life of Miss Sito. They were astounded at his courage and grateful to him for saving the poor ensign from certain death at the hands of the now slain mutant. Sisko had asked him to contact Gul Dukat to inform him of the mutant's demise. Dukat did not appear to be too surprised, but did seem to be a bit disappointed. After talking with him, Garak decided to go to the infirmary, now that the ban on Cardassians had been lifted, to visit the young woman whose life he saved. He had procured a beautiful Bajoran earring from Jake Sisko, who had been trying to get rid of it ever since his last relationship with a Dabo girl fizzled. Of course Odo, being of a suspicious nature, had put the elaborately decorated piece of jewelry under a scanner to determine if there was any kind of tracking or listening device imbedded in the gems. He knew that Sito had suffered from paranoia about being doggedly pursued and tracked by the Cardassians and wanted to ease her fears. He wanted to make sure that she wasn't and that she was finally free of them. After a thorough examination of the jewel encrusted earring, he handed it back to Garak, finding nothing. However, he eyed Garak suspiciously as he made his way to the infirmary entrance. He knew that the poor young girl was still in the intensive care section, so there would be no chance of her seeing him. He knew that if she did catch a glimpse of him, she could have a relapse. Garak clutched the satin-lined box containing the lovely piece of jewelry in his right hand as he entered the infirmary and noticed that Dr. Bashir was at his desk, working on his reports to Starfleet. He looked up at him, startled as he entered.

"Garak! What are you doing here?"

"I have come to see how your young Bajoran patient is doing, Doctor. I wish to give her this gift as a gesture of good will." He handed the box containing the earring over to the doctor. His eyes widened as he opened it.

"You and she are both fortunate that you are out of her line of vision, Garak. I doubt she would accept this lovely little bauble if she knew it came from a Cardassian."

"Probably not, my friend." Garak responded with a smile. "However, if you tell her that it came from Jake Sisko, then no harm would come of it. It's just that I do not wish her to be afraid of me; a simple tailor. Even if I am a Cardassian, I have great sympathy as to what my people put her through."

"That is very kind of you, Garak." Bashir smiled a little in amusement. "She doesn't know Jake, but I can explain to her who he is. I hope you don't mind if I don't mention you."

"Not at all, Doctor. However, I think it would be wise if you told her that there is a Cardassian on this station, so she won't be surprised if she sees me on the promenade during the Gratitude Festival."

"I can't do that, Garak! You should stay out of her sight! She is deathly afraid of Cardassians! If I tell her of your presence on the station, her paranoid delusions might return."

"But I thought you said that she wouldn't be afraid of me."

"I lied to protect her." He looked up at his companion thoughtfully. "Please leave at once, Garak. I will give her the earring. I will see you later at lunch time."

Garak bowed.

"Very well, Doctor. I will see you later. I still think you are making a mistake by not telling her of me, but I can also see your point." He paused for a moment, and then smiled. "You are better at lying than I thought."


	14. The End of the Tunnel

Overkill

Chapter 14

There were times during her long incarceration when Sito was able to escape her tormentors...at least for brief periods of time. Early on, she discovered a long-forgotten passageway that led under the complex. She would go there to hide when the Cardassians became too violent. During her first year of captivity, she had been subjected to many forms of verbal and physical abuse. They lessened only when they found out that she was pregnant, but even then they were verbally abusive, calling her a worthless slut and a drain on their resources. They would also roughly slap her if she vomited from morning sickness. There were times also when she thought of death as a sweet release from the seemingly endless torments. However, she had no real desire to die. She had found ways of coping. When she was in hiding in the dark tunnel, there was peace and solitude for the most part. However, there were also feelings of claustrophobia at times, when the dark dank cement walls seemed to close in on her. However, she preferred that over the Cardassians. She tried to be as quiet as possible most of the time, but sometimes she wept over the fear of being discovered or of what may be lying in the shadows. She sometimes heard things crawling around down there, and the squeaking of filthy voles in search of a meal. However, they left her alone. She was thankful for that, but also began to feel as worthless as the Cardassians said she was. She stayed in the tunnel as long as she could; sometimes for days, until the instinct for self preservation took over and hunger forced her out. However, the longer she stayed in her hiding place, the more severe the beatings became when she emerged.

One day, they strapped her into the cold steel mind sifter chair and forced her to breathe a noxious vapor of some sort. After that, she realized that she had developed an acute sense of smell. The Cardassians meant it as a punishment, so she could get sick at the foul slop they forced her to eat, giving them an excuse to sexually abuse her or beat her if she vomited. She quickly learned to grow used to the stench of the barely edible food, but soon also became acutely aware of when the Cardassians were getting horny. Their body odor was far worse than the gruel. The new sense of smell had given her one small advantage: when she smelled their pheromones, she was able to crawl away and hide in the tunnel. However, they would eventually catch her when she came out or when she least expected them to, sometimes hurting her for no apparent reason.

In her dreams, she was back in the tunnel and it wasn't dark. It was lit by fiery torches attached to the dank dirty walls. She began to smell the horrible stench of three horny black-lipped Cardassians. Her heart raced as her fear grew. She started to run in a panic in the dream, but her legs felt like they were wading through thick taffy. For a while, she was able to elude them, but they eventually caught up with her, dragged her down to the muddy floor, pinned her down, tore off her tattered clothes, and started to rape her.

In the real world, Worf had managed to contact the Klingon home world and obtained all the information he could about the mind sifter. Bashir and Troi had hopes that they could help Sito mend her damaged mind as they studied the schematics.

Solith saw that their patient's heart rate was climbing, she was screaming in absolute terror, and that she was in the throws of another violent nightmare. Quickly, the Vulcan doctor shook her awake. After a time, Sito's screams subsided, but her eyes remained glazed and she was hyperventilating. For a few moments, she didn't seem to recognize the doctor, but finally it began to dawn on her that she was no longer in the tunnel. Solith's appearance seemed to have a calming effect on the poor ensign. She calmed down a little, her breathing slowing, and then began to cry, relieved that it had been a dream, but now realizing her mother was no longer at her bedside. In her mind, she began to believe that her mother was never really there or that she had been murdered. She also began to think that she would be next.

"My mother..." She gasped. "What did you do to my mother?!"

"I did nothing to her, Ensign. Please calm yourself. She was taken to guest quarters and is now asleep. She will return when she is rested."

Sito's eyes focused on the Vulcan doctor for a moment, and then recalled that Vulcans did not lie.

"Where are the others?"

"Worf is with Counselor Troi, Doctor Crusher and Doctor Bashir. They are studying schematics of the Klingon mind sifter that was used on you to determine if they can help you heal your tortured mind." The Vulcan doctor studied her face for a moment, a bit relieved that the ensign was calming down now.

"Where is major Kira?"

Major Kira heard the poor girl's screams as she entered the infirmary. Bashir knew that she was coming back to visit the ensign after she had recovered from her final operation to excise a pyloric tumor from her upper intestine, and had left a note with the box containing the Bajoran earring, asking her to give it to Ensign Sito when she awakened from her medically induced sleep, and informing the major that it was a gift from Garak. Bashir had asked her not to tell Sito where it really came from, but to tell her that it was a gift from Jake Sisko instead. She agreed with that, even though she wondered how the captain's son could afford such a beautiful piece of jewelry. She found out before entering the infirmary that Jake was still making payments on it, but that Quark had magnanimously and uncharacteristically decided to forgive the debt, also feeling sorry for Sito. Kira thought that no amount of expensive jewelry could make up for what those thugs had put the ensign through. However, it was beautiful, and Kira thought she deserved some form of compensation. Quickly, she scooped up the box containing the earring and entered the intensive care section.

"I am here, Ensign." She said, hearing her query. " Are you all right? I brought you a present from Jake Sisko, the son of the station's manager. He thought you might like to have it."

By now, Sito was sitting up, feeling much better than she had a few minutes ago. She took the box from the major.

"I'm OK. Just a bad dream...what is it?" The girl asked warily.

"Open it."

At first, when Sito opened the box, her eyes widened in astonishment at the lovely piece of jewelry. Then, an all too familiar scent wafted from it. She screamed in fright and threw it across the room.

"What is wrong?" Solith asked, watching curiously as Major Kira went to retrieve the earring from a corner. Luckily, it wasn't damaged.

"The stench! It is permeated by the pheromones of a horny Cardassian! Where did this really come from?"

The major and the doctor exchanged glances, Kira nodding her consent at telling the ensign the truth.

"I apologize, Ensign. I was not aware that you had a sense of smell like a canine. The earring came from the station's lone Cardassian. His name is Garak and he felt sorry for you."

"You can tell that creeping crud that he is barking up the wrong tree if he thinks he can curry favor with me! His stench is permeating that earring!" She calmed down a little and looked at the Vulcan doctor. "I thank you for your honesty, but I don't want it." She closed her eyes, looking weary.

The major had retrieved the earring and smiled, wondering how the ensign knew the gift was really from a Cardassian.

"That's all right, Ensign. I will sell it back to Jake and give the money to charity. I'm glad the stokaline that the good doctor has been giving you is working. You have regained some of your strength and have quite a good throwing arm. When you are better, I will ask Captain Sisko to teach you how to play baseball. You would be a natural."


End file.
